Tanulmány
Abstract: The study provides an onomastic data analysis of toponymic remnants of the Bakonybél Census. The findings are compared with the charecteristics of the toponymic material of four 11-13. century linguistically explored charters (TA, TÖ, SZA, GA). The settlement names in terms of their origin, collected according to their functional-semantic and structural features, will also be presented. Based on the examined corpus, it can be confirmed that the dominant settlement name type of the early Old Hungarian period was the one-component name formed from an anthroponym; among natural names, however, two-component names are also represented, most often with a geographical common word constituent. With regard to the genesis of names, it is possible to state that Hungarian name-giving dominated in the given period.
Keywords: historical toponomastics, medieval charters, early Old Hungarian period, linguistic-onomastic features
Abstract: As part of a study on the properties of the Gitskan pre-predicate element hlaa ‘just, now’, Matthewson et al. propose the hypothesis that “there is possibly such a thing as proximal aspect” (2019:45). In their interpretation, the meaning that a proximity marker can give to a sentence is ‘the temporal distance between the time of the event described by the predicate and the reference time is small’ (ibid.). In this study, I argue that Hungarian most ‘now’ and éppen ‘just’ can mark proximity when they are used together with the morphologically marked past tense and future time reference. Concerning the types of proximity, I distinguish two types: absolute and relative. Additionally, I show that most ‘now’ and éppen ‘just’ are relative proximity markers by comparing the grammatical behavior and meaning of most ‘now’ to the Gitskan element hlaa ‘just, now’. I argue that despite their differences, absolute and relative proximity markers can have the same formal semantic representation and that all differences between these two types of proximity markers are pragmatic in nature. To support this, I provide a formal semantic representation of Hungarian sentences containing the proximity markers most ‘now’ and éppen ‘just’.
Keywords: relative proximity, Hungarian, future time reference
Abstract: In my paper I discuss the code-switching habits of Hungarian university students from Transcarpathia studying in Hungary both in terms of their oral and online communication. My research examines the use of code-switching by participating university students in their own oral and online communication, the cases in which they switch between codes, and the types of attitudes associated with code-switching used in oral communication and online messages.
Keywords: bilingualism, code-switching, linguistic attitude, online communication, oral language use
Abstract: Productive preverb-verb patterns show which groups of verbs a preverb can be combined with, depending on its various senses. The aim of this paper is to extract these patterns using a method based on the corpus-driven study of ‘preverb - derivational suffix - argument frame’ triplets. First, I take a close look at the most common verb formations in Hungarian: new verbs can easily be created from nouns, verbs and by means of sound patterns. After that, I present the PREVCONS database containing 21,038 preverb-verb hapaxes. This resource makes it possible to explore the productive preverb-verb patterns by the accessibility of the triplets mentioned above. Finally, I describe an experiment which aims to represent the different senses of preverbs and the relationships between these senses in a network-like structure based on PREVCONS, in the form of an ontology.
Keywords: preverb, verbal particle, productive patterns, verb formation in Hungarian, ontology
Abstract: This study aims to compare the duration of affricate and nasal consonants in the Neapolitan and Turinese regional varieties of spoken Italian. The absolute duration of sounds was measured in a corpus of 100 affricates and nasals - which were then compared by their position in the word such as intervocalic, initial, CxV and VxC environments. This paper also considers the analysis of geminated sounds and raddoppiamento sintattico. After the analysis we can see significant differences in the two varieties: in 76% of the cases the Neapolitan variety represents longer consonant duration compared to the Turinese.
Keywords: affricates, nasals, duration, Neapolitan, Turinese
Abstract: As the speech act of offer neither falls within a clear illocutionary act nor has an explicit performative verb unlike other speech acts e.g. requests, advice, or warning, it is likely to be theoretically tricky. Based on this fact, offers will have mixed characteristics, which in turn, combine characteristics of different speech acts into one speech act. Since the investigation of offers is still very much in its infancy, this article is considered a theory-oriented one. It thus broadens the knowledge of prospective researchers for research purposes in the speech act of offer in different languages. Since this article reviews the speech act of offer theoretically, it is devoted to knowing how offers can be distinguished from other speech acts. It not only seeks to present an overview of how language philosophers, pragmatists and discourse analysts looked at offers as a speech act, but also adds a new aspect to the offering act pertaining to the potential arrangement of the offer characteristics by virtue of the two concepts 'salience' and 'performance'.
Keywords: speech acts, offers, politeness, salience, performance
Abstract: The aim of this methodological paper is to present an overview of research methods in speech act and politeness research, providing evidence in support of the triangulation approach (Jucker 2009; 2018). By taking research on politeness and speech acts as an example, I show that the respective advantages of different qualitative and quantitative methods such as corpus methods, roleplays, and interviews, are in fact complementary. Different research methods should be combined in the research design in order for the reliability and validity of the research tool to be increased and a fuller understanding of various pragmatic phenomena to be obtained.
Keywords: triangulation, questionnaires, roleplays, corpora, rating-scales, pragmatics
Abstract: This paper addresses variability in (im)politeness perceptions in Syrian Arabic by looking at four naturally-occurring apologies, based on Haugh and Chang’s (2019) study. It aims to investigate whether variability, if any, is related to perceptions of the (in)sincerity of the apology and the severity of the offense. The data were collected through an online survey, in which 77 native speakers of Syrian Arabic were asked to listen to four apology recordings and rate them on three 5-point Likert scales. The results of the statistical analysis show that there is variability in the participants’ perceptions of (im)politeness in only one of the recordings. Furthermore, it was noted that this variability in (im)politeness perceptions was paralleled by variability in terms of evaluations of the speaker’s sincerity in apologizing. The results also show that there is a positive correlation between perceptions of (im)politeness, (in)sincerity, and the severity of offense in all but one of the recordings. The overall results confirm Haugh and Chang’s (2019) observation that variability in (im)politeness perceptions is not limited to intercultural settings but can be found in intracultural discourse events.
Keywords: perceptions, (im)politeness, intracultural variability, intralinguistic variability, Syrian Arabic
Abstract: This paper aims to present the organization of the narrative text through a structural analysis of Guy de Maupassant’s Farce normande, with respect to the system of characters. The study of this short story examines the possible division of the text into sub-units at two different levels. At the first level, the textual analysis considers the elements of the surface, in connection with the division of the text into what we call scenes (scènes). At the second level, the narratological approach reflects the deep structure of the text, and offers a division into segments, using A. J. Greimas’s actantial model. This study shows a possible approach for the structural analysis of a literary text, and may serve as a basis for a typology on a larger corpus.
Keywords: narratology, actantial model, short story
Abstract: This paper aims to present three theories related to three different fields of linguistics: A. J. Greimas’s actantial model (narratology), Ph. Hamon’s semiological model of the characters in a story (semiology), and B. Combettes’ approach to coherence and thematic progression (text linguistics). The main objective is to give a general overview of each of these theories, but, in the meantime, it is also our task to detect their eventual connections, and to describe their role in the linguistic approach to the evaluation of the character (personnage) in literary texts.
Keywords: narratology, semiology, text linguistics, character
Abstract: Today’s sociolinguistic dynamics brought about the inclusion of ever larger proportions of society in communication that transcends national frontiers. International communication points more and more towards the use of a single lingua franca. Sociolinguistic research has amply documented how English replaced all other languages as the most frequently used language for international communication. Europe is no exception to this. The language is currently the de facto the working language of the European Union, although its use rests on an ambiguous normative basis further to Brexit. The present thesis undertakes to examine the sociolinguistic profile of English in 21st century Europe. It intends to shed light on an anomalous situation whereby the language is used in a wide range of domains but lacks a normative basis when it comes to the use of English as a European lingua franca in the institutional communication of the EU. On the presumption that it is highly unlikely that English will be deprived of its international functions in the short and medium term, numerous researches dealt with the development of the language, pondering the chance of using a specific European language variety of English in the future. The question has become particularly relevant nowadays when the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union might give further impetus to this process.
Keywords: World Englishes, Three Circles Model, English as a Lingua Franca, European Union
Abstract: In this paper I discuss word-formation with nicht in German and I propose two patterns in the framework of Pat-tern-and-Restriction Theory (Nolda 2012, 2018) - a pattern of nicht-compounds and a pattern of nicht-prefixation. It is debated in the literature whether nicht- is to be analysed as a prefix or rather as a compound member. In this paper I chose word-formation meaning to be a criterium to decide this question - I consider products where nicht has the meaning ‘logical Negation’ to be compounds and products with the meaning ‘norm deviation’ to be deriv-atives.
Keywords: word formation, nicht, negation
Abstract: The Arab substratum of the words related to the fundamental cults of Christianity obviously reflect Arab origin. In spite of the Western rapprochement of the archipelago’s population since the Norman invasion of the islands, the Maltese lexicon of Christianity’s major concepts and rites has not changed significantly, while more complex and abstract terms have been adopted predominantly, although far from exclusively, from Indoeuropean (Sicilian/Italian) languages. This paper offers an overview of relevant historical and linguistic processes, highlighting some of the current hypotheses concerning the history of religions of Malta, juxtaposing a number of lexemes with their Modern Standard Arabic equivalents and Maghrebi dialectal variations. In addition, it is pointed out that relevant lexicon can be classified in a number of categories, such as: major metaphysical concepts, references of church institutions, words of religious practices, feasts, church tools and lexemes covering social life arguably inspired by either Christian or Muslim religion.
Keywords: Maltese, Christianity, Arabic, strata, lexicon
Recenzió
Tanulmány - Framing and reframing in public discourses
Abstract: This paper explores lexical items as possible units with which to detect equivalence-based framing, which shows how a given piece of information is framed. In line with frame semantics and figurative framing, individual words used metaphorically are discussed as tools to determine equivalence frames. The study applies conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) to determine the metaphors evoked by words referring to the demonstrators and their movement used in 81 news articles about the Women’s March in the USA published on the websites of the most widely circulated American newspapers between 2017 and 2019. The analysis reveals that lexical items (e.g., flood, sea, wave) evoking the WATER domain were used to frame the protest; this finding is in contrast to the use of words from other source domains, such as WAR, which are commonly used to frame demonstrations.
Keywords: equivalence-based framing; frame semantics; metaphorical framing; conceptual metaphor theory
Abstract: Since 2015, migration has been one of the most dominant topics of the Hungarian political and public agenda. In the light of migration statistics, the question of how the image of issuer regions - in this case Africa - in online news can be examined becomes relevant, since news portals serve as a source of information for society and indirectly affect recipients’ attitudes towards African citizens and Hungarian-African relations. The paper presents three methods that are suitable for the linguistically embedded analysis of media representation, thus outlining and categorising the frames used in online news and exploring the topics that the leading Hungarian news portals link to the continent. The study’s presumption, according to which Africa’s media representation operates with negative images, maintaining the phenomenon of Afro-pessimism, is based on the international literature. The sentiment, headline and verb analyses conducted on 382 news units revealed that Africa’s media representation does not exclusively operate with negative images, certain topics are framed explicitly positively. Nevertheless, the analysed leading news portals tend to convey a negative image of Africa.
Keywords: Africa, media, representation, framing, news
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse how the phenomenon of Venezuelan immigration is framed in Colombian press, based on the articles of three well-known newspapers available online. The Venezuelan exodus is one of the most significant migration processes of our times, comparable to the one faced by Europe on the arrival of immigrants coming from Northern Africa and the Middle East. Since there is, at the time of writing, still no research dealing with the portrayal of immigration in Colombian newspapers, our work should be considered as purely exploratory, while the dimensions of the study preclude us from offering representative results. This paper identifies and analyses different framing strategies, such as the importance of nominational strategies, the presence or absence of figurative language, and the agency of the verbs used.
Keywords: immigrants, corpus-study, framing, collocations, metaphor
Abstract: Metaphorical representations of the US CONGRESS have been discussed by Stephen Frantzich (2013: 157), whose corpus included 650 political cartoons spanning the last forty years. With the help of content analysis he concludes that the most frequent metaphors are linked to source domains like ANIMALS, SPORTS, TOOLS AND MACHINES, BEHAVIORS, HISTORICAL, LITERARY FIGURES, and JOB HOLDERS. However, metaphorical representations of HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT have not yet been studied. This paper reveals the recurring thematic frames of political cartoons that refer directly to HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT. Furthermore, it also presents the metaphoric source domains of this target in context with its specific manifestations. It is maintained that similarities can be observed between the reported metaphors of the US Congress and those of the Hungarian Parliament as both targets belong to the realm of political discourse. The Hungarian corpus (a total of 91 cartoons) was collected from the satirical magazine Ludas Matyi from 1989 and 1990, a time when parliamentary democracy was established, the Hungarian Republic proclaimed, and the new government elected. The results show that the conceptual metaphors POLITICS IS WAR and POLITICS IS SPORT which are often used in political discourse, generate a high number of FIGHT and SPORT SCENES, especially in the year of the election, 1990 when the PARLIAMENT was mostly conceptualized as a FIELD.
Keywords: thematic frame, metaphoric source, Hungarian Parliament, political cartoon, multimodality
Ünnepi kötet Kövecses Zoltán 75. születésnapja alkalmából
Grammatika
Abstract: Every linguistic expression reflects reality from some perspective. This perspectival view can manifest itself in different ways in language. One manifestation of this is that we do not necessarily find overlap of category scopes defined by expressions of similar meanings when comparing different languages. Perspectivity can also manifest itself in the semantic transparency of an expression when it reveals some metaphorical or metonymic interpretation of reality. Even in the case of expressions that are not transparent in this sense, perspectivity can be noted but only from a historical point of view. This transpires in the etymology of expressions through metaphorical or metonymic semantic changes that can also explain category differences between languages. In the present study, we discuss these various manifestations of perspectivization with respect to lexicalization and grammaticalization.
Keywords: perspective, categorization, metaphor, metonymy, lexicalization, grammaticalization, semantic change
Abstract: The paper offers a cognitive linguistic analysis of metaphors supporting the conceptualization of SENTENCE STRUCTURE. In line with the tenets of cognitive linguistics, it is assumed that the construal of this highly abstract conceptual domain necessarily has a metaphorical basis. Accordingly, it is argued that differences between syntactic theories can be traced back to the metaphorical choices they make. In constituency analysis, THE SENTENCE IS A BULDING appears to be the core metaphor guiding syntactic analysis, whereas dependency grammar seems to rely especially heavily on THE SENTENCE IS A FAMILY metaphor. The second part of the paper offers a detailed discussion of two instructive metaphors invented by the Transylvanian polymath Sámuel Brassai, both supporting a dependency grammatical understanding of sentences, namely THE SENTENCE IS A FEUDAL SOCIETY and THE SENTENCE IS A SOLAR SYSTEM. Using conceptual integration theory, the author spells out the key implications of these two metaphors, arguing that each has its share of advantages.
Keywords: dependency grammar, constituency analysis, conceptual metaphor, conceptual integration
Abstract: Desubstantival adjectives with the suffix -s have two main types of meaning: possessing of something (‘habere’-perspective) and possessing of a specific quality (‘esse’-perspective). The potential semantic changes are typically those from the ‘habere’-perspective to the ‘esse’ perspective. On the other hand a resemantization of meanings of type ‘esse’ into type ‘habere’ is also possible. This dichotomy requires different mechanisms with the interpretation, in analogy with the strict diverse mental processes of understanding and identifying metonymy or metaphor respectively. The ‘habere’-perspective supports the identification of metonymies in a syntactic frame, leaning on the idea of “reference point”. On the other hand the ‘esse’-perspective enables the identification of metaphors by conceptual and semantic categorization. The analysis required a working definition and an explanation of the adjectival metonymies and metaphors discussed rarely and a description of the differences between metaphor and simile.
Keywords: adjective suffix -s, adjectival metonymy and metaphor, type coercion, metaphor identification, enallage, simile
Abstract: The paper describes constructions of the process type CAUSED CHANGE OF STATE in a cognitive grammatical framework. In the construction type under study, the end state resulting from a process is symbolized by an adjective or noun in factive case (-VÁ) (valaki valamilyenné/valamivé tesz valamit ’somebody causes something to become so-and-so’). The case study is based on attested linguistic data, especially data sampled from the Hungarian National Corpus (HNC v2.0.5) and from the earlier version of HNC by the Mazsola query tool. The paper presents a cognitive linguistic account of the construction type (cf. Broccias 2004). It offers a critical assessment of the analysis whereby the verbal component undergoes “skewing” (Langacker 2009b, 2009c). Under the proposal, skewing should be regarded not as a congruency problem arising when the verb slot is filled, but rather as an aspect of how constructions are integrated. On the basis of cognitive linguistic analyses performed on Hungarian data, the paper identifies verbs (along with their collexemes) that define the resultative construction and delineates its more specific constructional subschemas.
Keywords: (reflexive) resultative constructions, factivus, skewing, constructional integration, collexemes, Hungarian corpus data
Abstract: Action nominal is a highly contradictory linguistic phenomenon that challenges basic categories of linguistic description. The present paper approaches lexical categories as cognitively motivated abstract constructions (form-meaning pairings). In this regard, the action nominal is a hyper-construction which - from a formal as well as a semantic perspective - originates from already existing constructions in language. Summary scanning and change of state are central to the schematic meaning of the Hungarian action nominal morphological construction. The latter characteristic accounts for the preference of actor elaboration in possessive structure and compounding - which are approached as single-scope networks motivated by person deixis and analogy -, since it is the endpoint of a given action chain that tends to be elaborated. We also demonstrate that the word with a metonymically extended meaning - in contrast with the action nominal - can be characterised by typical noun features. Furthermore, investigations on ‘event’ and ‘result’ metonymic meaning of action nominal instances show that metonymy becomes part of morphological knowledge by schematized lexical polysemic patterns, which draws attention to the importance of the lexico-grammatical continuum.
Keywords: action nominal, morphological construction, metonymy, possessive structure, single-scope network
Abstract: This paper adopts a cognitive linguistic approach to the conceptualisation of time in Hungarian. Firstly, it looks at the way in which morphological devices, case markers and postpositions designed to express spatial directions express time in order to identify the features of the concept of space used by cognition to connect the two entities. By detecting the presence of time in the concept of space in a few cases, the analysis casts some doubt on the interpretation of space exclusively as a source domain. Secondly, the paper describes the main time metaphors of Hungarian. The vast majority are universal but some belong to a separate category of language-specific image schema metaphors associated with the directions UP, DOWN and OUT. The results of both analyses demonstrate that the concept of time in the Hungarian speech community not only includes universal components but also culture and language-specific features.
Keywords: conceptual metaphor, space, time, events, culture
Abstract: The paper gives a cognitive semantic analysis of the Hungarian prefix fel ‘up’ + verbs, motion verbs respectively. The first part outlines the main features of the Hungarian prefix + verb composite structure as a complex linguistic unit. This construction is highly variable, let alone the rich derivational suffix system. The next sections approach the prefix fel ‘up’ + verb constructions from three corresponding perspectives: (1) the semantic extensions of the prototypical prefixed verb expressing dynamic directionality and motion as one linguistic unit, focusing on the nature of the schematic figures and the path; (ii) the metaphoric uses of the prefix fel, its metaphoric use with a non-metaphoric verb, and the metaphoric meanings of fel ‘up’ + verb constructions as linguistic units, mainly within the conceptual domain of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor; and (iii) the ontology of the prefixed verbs in question (e.g. motion, object manipulation, change of state, perception, communication, mental verbs), again analysing how the semantic context of these groups are construed with respect to the nature of the schematic figures, directionality and the path. The three parallel and interdependent ways of analysis delineates a complex picture of the semantic nature of the prefixed Hungarian verb.
Keywords: composite structure, dynamic construal, path, prefix, verb, upward direction
Pragmatika
Abstract: The present study deals with inclusory plural pronominal constructions, in which the referent of the comitative phrase is included in the reference set of the plural pronoun. This is only possible if the comitative phrase is the complement of the pronoun. The comitative phrase can also be used as a verb modifying adjunct, when it is excluded form the reference set of the pronoun. These two uses can be tested by the binding relations of reflexive and reciprocal pronouns, as well as by topicalisation and focusing. The paper also dicussses the similarities and differences of inclusory pronominal consturctions and associative plurals. Both constructions denote [+animate] [+human] groups and obey similar lexical-semantic restrictions. At the same time, inclusory plural pronominal constructions are most often speaker-inclusive, while associative plurals denote 3PL groups.
Keywords: inclusory plural pronominal constructions, complement, adjunct, reflexive possessive pronouns, reciprocal pronouns, associative plural constructions
Abstract: The elusive yet often invoked notion of context features prominently not only in pragmatics but also in the recent study of metaphor in cognitive linguistics. This article provides a comparison of the conceptualisation of context in the two fields through scrutinising publications by the honouree of this selection of articles, Zoltán Kövecses, and the definitions and theoretical frameworks offered for the analysis of context in pragmatics. The investigation reveals that since the use of metaphor is an integral part of language use, which is also the main concern of pragmatics, there are more commonalities than differences between the perception of context in the two research areas.
Keywords: context, metaphor, meaning construction, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics
Abstract: The paper focuses on the phenomenon of deictic projection that has so far been a rather neglected research area within linguistics, even though the study of deixis in general has become invigorated in the literature with the functional cognitive approach gaining ground. The paper studies the phenomenon of deixis, traditionally treated as a key issue in pragmatics, as well as the operation of deictic projection, in the perspective of social cognitive linguistics that insists on a social (interactional and intersubjective) approach to linguistic cognition in the functional cognitive description of language far more forcefully than it was done earlier on. After sketching the theoretical background and circumscribing the phenomenon of deixis, the paper focuses on the operation of deictic projection, gives a detailed overview of the range of issues that arise in terms of the types of deixis (spatial, temporal, social), and provides examples of crucial ingredients of the phenomenon that are open-ended, dynamically construed, and based on the property of gradualness.
Keywords: functional cognitive pragmatics, deixis, types of deixis, deictic projection, referential centre, context-dependent points of departure, partial and full projection, gradualness
Abstract: This paper aims to explore (1) what order of elements of a prototypical lie proposed by Coleman and Kay (1981) has been shown by Hungarians’ conception of lying from the point of view of importance, (2) whether the intention to deceive is the most important element of lying in Hungarian language use as the previous literature suggested, and (3) how confident Hungarian language users are in their judgements and whether there are any factors determining Hungarians’ judgements of lie. To fulfil our goal we repeated Coleman and Kay’s experiment with 120 Hungarian native speakers. On the basis of our results it can be established that the order of the prototypical elements of lying in Hungarian language use is the following: belief that the proposition is false> intention to deceive>objective falsity and, consequently, belief has been proved as the most important element. The informants were rather confident in their judgements. There were problems only in situations where withholding information, half-truth and evasive responses occurred. Relevance/irrelevance considerations played a role in judgements of such situations.
Keywords: lie, belief, intention to deceive, objective falsity, relevance/irrelevance
Abstract: The present study targets a late phase of language acquisition, namely, the cognitive developmental aspects of the unfolding of pragmatic competence, and it pays special attention to the differences in the interpretation and in the cognitive aspects of the processing of metaphor and irony, and the development of irony comprehension. It maps the nature of the relationship between mentalization and the decoding of irony, its cognitive psychological and linguistic features, and it investigates the role that mentalization plays in the smooth coordination and unfolding of pragmatic skills and idiomatic interpretation in general, and irony interpretation in particular. The study is based on an empirical framework of experimental pragmatics with neurotypically developing preschoolers, where the subjects’ pragmatic-linguistic and cognitive abilities are tested and juxtaposed. It also yields a detailed picture of the developmental paradigms connected to figurative interpretative abilities, placing these on a wider spectrum of pragmatic abilities. It portrays irony in relation to metaphor, humor, and competencies of conversational maxim infringement recognition, placing all these domains on a continuum of pragmatic abilities in view of cognitive skills. It analyzes these domains of pragmatics in a common theoretical framework, and finally, by giving a typology of irony, it explains the cognitive interpretational and linguistic aspects of this figure of speech. The empirical results in the study suggest that mentalization in general plays a crucial role in all types of cognitive pragmatic abilities, and thus in irony comprehension as well. In the conclusion, we shed light on the finding why traditional linguistics and cognitive science treat questions of humor and irony differently, and how the linguistic approaches trying to delineate a descriptive framework setting dichotomies and drafting typologies give a different picture of the competencies, which however portray a continuum of cognitive pragmatic skills in the cognitive approach.
Keywords: developmental pragmatics, mentalization, metaphor, irony, cognitive strategies
Abstract: Drawing on the theoretical assumptions of cognitive linguistics, the paper takes steps towards a systematic cognitive-functional interpretation of pragmatic phenomena by highlighting the pragmatic aspects and significance of construal. Its key question is how the process of construal can be described in the context of language use interpreted as social cognitive activity. The paper foregrounds it as an essential feature of language use how discourse participants exploit the perspective nature of linguistic symbols while conceptually construing their experiences. Accordingly, construal is interpreted in terms of i. the adaptability of social cognition, ii. the intersubjectivity of attention directing, and iii. the perspectivity of contextualization.
Keywords: adaptability, construal, contextualization, intersubjectivity, joint attention, perspective, social cognition
Nyelvi antropológia, filozófia
Abstract: This paper encourages the cooperation of two subdisciplines, the study of conceptual metaphors and linguistic anthropology. In the interests if doing this, it compares the two approaches, providing two extended examples. One is an ethnographic illustration, the second is a historical example. Metaphors have pragmatic and metapragmatic forms which are worth analyzing together with conceptual ones. Kövecses’s most recent book has moved in this direction, as he suggests that we interact with each other through metaphors. This study also urges more research on the social role of metaphors, as these are used and occur both in speech events and in wider politics, to balance the more usual cognitive approach.
Keywords: linguistic anthropology, pragmatic metaphor, interaction, language ideology
Abstract: One of the arguments against Lakoff & Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphor theory is its alleged inconsistency. However, contemporary logic and philosophy of science assume that there are several kinds of inconsistency and not all inconsistencies are destructive. Accordingly, the paper raises the question of what kinds of inconsistencies emerge in conceptual metaphor theory and how to evaluate them. With the help of Kertész & Rákosi’s (2012) p-model as a metatheoretical research framework, the authors analyse those properties of conceptual metaphor theory which according to its critics lead to inconsistency. As a result, they answer the question asked by distinguishing between permanent p-paraconsistency, ad hoc p-paraconsistency, strong p-inconsistency and p-consistency, which are manifested in different stages of Lakoff and Johnson’s argumentation process and have to be evaluated differently.
Keywords: conceptual metaphor theory, inconsistency, paraconsistency, p-model, plausible argumentation
Abstract: The metaphors of climate change, just like many other scientific metaphors, are often inaccurate. The word ‘greenhouse’, for example, literally refers to a structure specifically designed to trap heat. (Global) ‘warming’ is generally a positive word in contrast to ‘overheating’, for example. We first review the cognitive neuroscience of metaphor processing and then take a close look at why metaphors do not fulfill their intended role in climate communication. Part of the problem is that it is often the literal meaning of figures of speech that hinders the transmission of the intended content; another concern is the rather hostile communication environment, rife with misinformation generated and spread by the fossil-fuel industry; finally, it appears that formulating unified and clear public messages poses a challenge for climate scientists, as a community. In closing we provide an overview of the cognitive limitations of everyday reasoning and communication, based on which climate researchers and journalists could move forwards in creating metaphors and using language to convey powerfully the dramatic message of climate destruction.
Keywords: climate change, metaphor, communication, figurative language, global warming, greenhouse
Abstract: The paper aims at exploring and demonstrating the productivity of a semantic frame-based analysis of metaphorical meaning. It describes the notion of semantic frame, then it presents two frame-based models of metaphorization (frame-shifting and constructional approach) in details. After the theoretical foundation a case study is carried out about the Hungarian metaphorical equative constructions. The realizations of the construction is investigated in the Hungarian National Corpus2, resulting in an overview of the usage of the pattern. Finally, three occurrences of the sample are scrutinized relying on the data of the FrameNet database.
Keywords: semantic frame, metaphor, construction, analysis
Abstract: The way we talk about complex and abstract ideas is inherently metaphorical and therefore perspectivized. Not even scientific language is an exception to this. The present study provides a linguistic analysis of Mark Johnson’s philosophical book, Morality for Humans, focusing on the two moral theories presented in the book (traditional and naturalized), based on five search terms. Johnson calls the morality of traditional ethics into question by assuming that, since it builds on absolute truths, it cannot provide adequate solutions to moral dilemmas. However, the postmodern approach offers an embodied conception of morality, and along with this, in Johnson’s view, also the right solutions to moral issues. The present analysis uncovers and contrasts the persuasive strategies of the author of the book in the description of the two theories (with special regard to conceptual metaphors and categorization), and aims to reflect on the ways he persuades his readers about the validity of his own conception. More broadly, this research is interested in the persuasive (or even manipulative) power of metaphors in scientific discourse, which can easily become dangerous, inasmuch as it affects both the reader’s conceptualization, and the writer’s credibility.
Keywords: conceptual metaphor, persuasion, morality, scientific discourse, theory building, categorization
Kultúra, történelem
Abstract: This study explores the relationship between conceptualization and culture in connection with the analysis of the phraseology based on the Hungarian body part name szem ’eye’. Its initial statement is that the key principle in the semantic organization of the phraseology of szem is conceptualization, which can be detected as being anchored to cultural models. This observation is evidenced by the examination of the meaning extensions of szem, which is in this case concentrated on the domain of CULTURAL VALUES. Within this domain, two cultural models are identified, namely, THE EYE AS THE SEAT OF HONOUR and THE EYE AS THE SEAT OF MORALITY, which entail further conceptualizations, including THE EYE AS THE MEANS OF MORAL EVALUATION, THE EYE AS THE MEANS OF MORAL REFLECTION, THE EYE AS THE INDICATOR OF CULTURAL VALUE, and finally, THE EYE AS THE EXECUTOR OF MORAL JUDGEMENT.
Keywords: conceptualization, cultural model, cultural value, eye, morality, phraseology
Abstract In this article we present a case study on the contextualization of the CONDUCTOR metaphor in the most important discourse types of endocrinology. We examine the dynamic character of metaphor variation by detailing the usage of this specific metaphor by means of which the pituitary is conceptualized as the leader and conductor of the endocrine orchestra. It alternates with a structurally less rich metaphor which conceptualizes the pituitary as a part of an axis. The two metaphors are in a sort of complementary distribution along two dimensions: across time, i.e. diachronically, as well as across the social dimension. What is more, their distribution apparently challenges the established wisdom about the unidirectional process of the conventionalization of metaphors. The CONDUCTOR metaphor, being replaced by the AXIS metaphor in the scientific medical discourse, now seems to be fairly stable in non-scientific medical discourse (i.e. in the communication between health practitioners and patients, or between patients). However, an interesting twist can be observed, the CONDUCTOR metaphor recently making an unexpected comeback into the scientific discourse.
Keywords: conceptual metaphor, the CONDUCTOR metaphor, the AXIS metaphor, medical discourse, metaphor variation, metaphor conventionalization, the career of metaphor hypothesis, metaphor life-cycle
Abstract: This paper surveys the nature and change of British and American legal, historical and political terms, primarily in the field of British and American law, the British Parliament, the U.S. Congress, the British royal tradition, the U.S. presidency, the British aristocracy, as well as the development of those terms and names in the English-speaking tradition. A brief overview is added on impeachment in the United States. The paper also addresses some of the problems of translating British and American historical texts into Hungarian and the other way around. Translating historical texts, particularly primary sources, is made especially difficult by the differences between the histories of the two nations or indeed of any two nations. National histories are certainly not identical and not even necessarily comparable: they should correspond not only in linguistic but also in historical terms. The choice of the right expression, word or term should be preceded by a meticulous analysis of their meaning, semantic field, and role in both national languages and histories.
Keywords: case law, statute law, Houses of Parliament, Congress, aristocracy
Abstract: The study discusses the role of the image scheme of FORCE DYNAMICS in the process of conceptualization of ‘morality’. Having reviewed the academic literature, the linguistic manifestation of the conceptual metaphor MORALITY IS FORCE is examined in samples taken from Hungarian and German language corpora, then based on the results of the analysis the lay theories on morality based on the above-mentioned metaphor will be built. Comparing these, intercultural similarities, differences, and their causes are searched for.
Keywords: morality, force dynamics, metaphoric conceptualisation, lay theory
Abstract: Donald Trump’s presidency was largely built on inciting fear from immigrants, China, and corrupt politicians, creating a sense of crisis that he could control. In light of the turbulent year of 2020 in the United States, which included numerous protests and the coronavirus pandemic, the question arises: did he use his so-called crisis talk under the circumstances? My hypothesis was that Trump metaphorically framed the elements of crisis that appeared in his 2020 campaign for presidency. In this study, I analysed six campaign speeches from Trump’s 2020 campaign and identified the relevant conceptual metaphors and metaphorical frames in order to find out how Trump addressed the different elements of crisis. The results suggested that he had heavily relied on the metaphorical frames of war and warlike competition in his speeches, deepening the feeling of insecurity in his audience. The study showed that Trump definitely relied on the language of crisis in each metaphorical domain.
Keywords: metaphorical frames, campaign rhetoric, political speeches, crisis talk
Irodalom
Abstract: My discussion seeks to explore both what the American slave narrative is and what the American slave narrative does: how its taxonomic markers are mapped out by American criticism, and how narratives about slavery - the slave narratives, in particular - morph into neo-slave narratives. Prompted by recent contributions to the theorizing of genre, I am interested in how innovative approaches to genre can help explore neo-slave narratives. Along these lines, I look at the narrative strategy in two contemporary African American novels, Charles Johnson’s Oxherding Tale (1982) and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World (2003) and read them as neo-slave narratives, representing two distinctive post-civil-rights approaches to fictional enactments of slavery. For all their difference, the two neo-slave novels are similar in their tendency to manifest the „eruption of genre” by playing out their distinctive textual processes and challenging their own boundaries, thus highlighting the problem of referentiality as an extremely vulnerable textual and cognitive process.
Keywords: slave narrative, neo-slave narrative, Black Aesthetics, postracial, postmodern, eruption of genre, referentiality, canonization, white supremacy, black subjectivity, hybridity, deep focus narrative, chiasmus, ekphrasis, stackability, scalability, switchability.
Abstract: The present paper discusses the levels and the difficulties of interpretation in Old Hungarian texts and then it illustrates some methodological aspects - the problem of interpretation in particular - on a script of a trial that took place in Transdanubia in 1626. The trial text in question appears in an excellent critical edition which can be studied as a letter-perfect transcription with sidenotes and a table of contents. However, one of the explaining footnotes is supposedly incorrect - it interprets the syntagma of a cursing esse fia as ’son of a beast, evil soul’. Nevertheless, the actual context shows that the notary quotes this as a blasphemy. If we consider the first word of the syntagma as a variation of the Biblical personal name Jesse, it is obvious that the cursing person refers to the family tree of Jesus. Jesse was the father of King David, which means that this exact mentioning of an ancestor of The Saviour can certainly be categorized as a blasphemy. The family tree of Jesus is often the topic of visual and applied arts. One of these is a carved church altar named Jesse-altar.
Keywords: levels of interpretation in old texts, blasphemous curses, trial texts from the Middle Hungarian era, presence of the biblical personal name Jesse in profanity.
Abstract: The present paper seeks to contribute to the description of literary ("poetic") metaphors by analyzing personifying metaphors. The corpus is made out of Gyula Krúdy’s personifying metaphors, which are present as characteristic features in his works. The background of the study is provided by the theory and methodology of cognitive stylistics. The paper discusses first the relationship between personification and metaphor, then briefly outlines the significance of personification in thinking (cognition) and language, and finally characterizes poetic personifying metaphors in general. The analyzes present the main features and types of metaphorical personifications, based on selected passages from Krúdy’s works of different genres (short stories, short novels, novels).
Keywords: literary /poetic metaphor, personification, personifying metaphor, prose of Gyula Krúdy, cognitive stylistics, style and meaning
Abstract: The present study provides a cognitive linguistic analysis of the Old Hungarian metaphors of the concept of MIND (ELME). Its aim is to explore the metaphorical representations of the MIND in the Old Hungarian age, i. e. the source domains used by the language users at the time to conceptualize this concept. With this study, the author also intends to pave the way for the research of cognitive metaphors in the field old linguistic texts, which, to my knowledge, has not yet taken place. The method of the study is corpus-based metaphor analysis, during which the author deduces the conceptualization of the MIND from metaphorical linguistic expressions found in the Old Hungarian corpus. According to the results, this concept was already associated with the following source domains in the Old Hungarian era: LOCATION, PLACE, BUILDING / RESIDENCE, PHYSICAL ENTITY, CONTAINER, OBJECT, PERSON. In connection with the analysis of the mappings, the meanings of the word mind that were alive then, but can now be classified as ancient (‘soul’, ‘heart’) are also revealed. In addition to presenting the results, the author tries to make open the problem of classifying metaphorical or metonymical expressions, which is one of the central issues of corpus-based metaphor research, and in the case of classification of old Hungarian expressions is a significant question.
Keywords: conceptual metaphor, conceptual metonymy, Old Hungarian data, corpus research, mind